Automatic milking apparatus

ABSTRACT

An automatic milking apparatus comprises a milking equipment having at least one teatcup ( 11 ), a robot arm ( 8 ) for attaching a teatcup to an animal&#39;s teat, an animal identification means ( 5, 6 ) for allowing identification of an animal individual, and an animal space ( 1 ) provided with an animal accepting/rejecting means ( 2 ) associated with a control means. A method of controlling the automatic milking apparatus is also described. According to the invention, said control means is programmed to allow an animal substantially in the beginning of its lactation period to be milked more often than in a later stage thereof.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automatic milking apparatuscomprising a milking equipment having at least one teatcup, a robot armfor attaching a teatcup to an animal's teat, an animal identificationmeans for allowing identification of an animal individual, and an animalspace provided with an animal accepting/rejecting means associated witha control means, said control means being programmed to allow an animalsubstantially in the beginning of its lactation period to be milked moreoften than in a later stage thereof.

The present invention also relates to a method of controlling saidautomatic milking apparatus.

An apparatus and a method of this kind is known from EP-A-0 638 231.This document describes an automatic milking apparatus comprising amilking robot and a computer system. The beginning of the lactationperiod of an animal is stored in the computer system and the computersystem is of such a design that, depending on the beginning of thelactation period of the animal, the animal is urged e.g. by means ofelectric shocks to go to the milking robot a certain number of times perday.

The known apparatus suffers from the drawback that it does not at allconsider the variation in a lactation curve.

A lactation curve describes the variation in the milk production. If thenumber of milking times is dependent on this curve the milking will getmore effective. A lactation curve is also different for differentanimals and different breeds. It could also vary between the individualsin a herd.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly the object of the present invention to overcome theproblem of the known apparatus.

This problem has been solved by an apparatus of the initially definedkind, which is characterised in that said control means is switchablebetween at least two stages of the lactation period, a first stagestarting at the beginning of the lactation period, a last stage endingtowards the end of the lactation period, said lactation period beingdivided into stages having a variable length of at least one day.

It has also been solved by a method of the initially defined kind, whichis characterised by including switching, by means of said control means,between at least two stages of the lactation period, a first stagestarting at the beginning of the lactation period, a last stage endingtowards the end of the lactation period and dividing said lactationperiod into stages having a variable length of at least one day.

Hereby, it is possible to set a predetermined number of milkings foreach stage. Such that the milking becomes more efficient.

Preferably, at least one animal individual is allowed a certain numberof milkings per day at at least one stage of the lactation period, andanother certain number of milkings per day at at least one other stageof the lactation period. Hereby, it is possible to control the number ofmilkings regarding each animal individual.

Suitably, said lactation period is divided into stages having a lengthof at least one day, which means that the length may be at least oneweek or at least one month. Of course, the stages need not have the samelength. On the contrary, the length of one stage may be different fromthe length of another stage. Accordingly, one period may have the lengthof a number of days, another period of a number of weeks, and yetanother period of a number of months. This is due to the curve of thelactation period.

Preferably, the length of said stages is automatically set based onreference values. Hereby, it is possible to let the apparatus workcompletely autonomously.

Suitably, the length of said stages is set manually. Hereby, it ispossible to set the length of the stages for each animal individual.

Preferably, the length of each stage for the whole lactation period isset before the beginning of the first stage. Hereby, it is possible toset the length of the stages for a typical breed of animals.

Suitably, the length of said stage is adaptable during the lactationperiod. Hereby, it is possible to adapt the length of a stage, duringthe lactation period, for each animal individual.

Preferably, the length of said stages is determined by measurement ofthe amount of extracted milk from an animal during a at least onemilking, a threshold value of the amount determining the end of saidstage. Hereby, it possible to automatically change from one stage toanother.

Suitably, the length of said stages is predetermined for at least a partof a herd. Hereby, it is possible to set the stages outgoing fromdifferent parameters of the herd, even if they are all e.g. in thebeginning of the lactation period. Such a parameter may be the normalmilk yield for a part of the herd—another part of the herd may haveanother normal milk yield. Another parameter may be the size of theudder.

Preferably, the allowed number of milkings per day increases in thebeginning of the lactation period towards a maximum point. Furthermore,the allowed number of milkings per day decreases from said maximum pointtowards the end of the lactation period. The said decrease of allowednumber of milkings per day is substantially continuous.

Hereby, the number of milkings will be adapted to a normal curve of thelactation period.

Suitably, the allowed number of milkings per day for an animalindividual is not less than 1 milking per day and no more than 6milkings per day. Hereby, the control means is given limits so that ananimal individual is not forgotten to be milked or is milked too much,in which case the dairy maid should be alarmed by a suitable signal.

Preferably, said control means is programmed to allow said animal to bemilked only after a minimum time interval from a previous milking.Hereby is prevented that an animal individual is milked the allowednumber of milkings per day in a row, i.e. during a short period of time,which would result in that after the allowed number of milkings, thatanimal individual would not be milked again until the next day, which inturn could be very painful for the animal.

Suitably, said accepting/rejecting member is a gate allowing orpreventing access to said animal space.

Preferably, said gate is adapted in a first position to accept access ofsaid animal into said animal space, but to prevent access into a waitingarea, and in a second position to accept access of said animal into awaiting area but to prevent access into said animal space. Hereby, thegate will select animals that are allowed to be milked from animals thatare not allowed to be milked.

In the apparatus according to EP-A-0 551 957, the control means givespriority between animals, which means that in case two cows of differentrank are identified substantially simultaneously, the cow of lower rankmay be allowed to enter the milking stall before the cow of higher rank.This may cause a crowd of jostling and jamming cows at the entrance ofthe milking stall, which in turn causes inefficient use of the automaticmilking apparatus.

The apparatus according to EP 0 638 231 does not at all consider thefact that two or more cows may simultaneously be standing close to themilking stall, wanting to enter the milking stall.

Animals that live in herds, such as cows, have a strict hierarchy overone another. Accordingly, in case a group of cows are standing close tothe automatic milking machine, e.g. at the entrance gate of a milkingstall, and two of them happen to be identified more or lesssimultaneously by an identification means arranged close to the entrancegate, the cow of higher rank in the hierarchy would normally enter themilking stall before the cow of lower rank.

According to the invention, an animal allowed to be milked and isstanding at a first distance from said sensor, is given priority toenter said milking space in relation to an animal allowed to be milkedand standing at a second distance from said sensor, said second distancebeing larger than said first distance. Hereby, as an animal of higherrank in the hierarchy will normally force itself to enter a milkingstall before an animal of a lower rank, the animal of higher rank willbe allowed to enter the milking stall, as it will then be standingcloser to the milking stall.

DRAWING SUMMARY DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a an animal space 1, in the form of a milking stall,defined by an entrance gate 2, an exit gate 3 and railings 4.

Each cow is provided with a collar mounted transponder 5, whichinteracts with a transponder reader 6 arranged at the entrance of thestall 1, when a cow is in the vicinity thereof. The cow will then beidentified, and it will be established in a control means (not shown)associated with the entrance gate 2, whether the cow should be allowedto enter the stall 1 or not. Accordingly, the stall gate 2 constitutes acow accepting/rejecting means.

A milking robot 7 comprising a robot arm 8 with a gripper 9 and ateatcup rack 10 with teatcups 11 are provided for allowing attachment ofa teacup 11 onto each teat of the animal to be milked The teat locationand teatcup attachment is performed in a known manner and is not part ofthe invention.

In FIG. 2, a selection stall 12 is associated with the milking stall 1in such a way that only one cow at a time will be allowed to beidentified by the transponder reader 6. A cow that is not allowed toenter the stall, will instead be let into a residing area 13 where itcame from, when entering the selection stall 12. The residing area 13 isdefined by a fence or a wall 14.

In FIG. 3, the selection stall 12 instead leads into a second residingarea 15, in which cows that are not allowed to be milked for a while areto reside. Also the exit gate 3 of the milking stall 1 leads to thatarea. The first and second residing areas 13, 15 are defined by a wallor fence 14 and by a further wall or fence 16, dividing said areas. Thewall or fence 16 is provided with a gate 17 associated with a furthertransponder reader 18, such that cows that should be allowed to bemilked in a near future may enter the first residing area 13 forachieving access to the milking stall 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a further possibility of arranging the milking stallof FIG. 2 in a stall. Cows that have been milked, as well as cows thatare not allowed to be milked, enter the second area 15. The second area15 is connected to the first residing area by a corridor 20, which islong enough to delay newly milked cows and other cows that are notallowed to be milked in their attempts to try to enter the milking stallagain.

FIG. 5a is a diagram showing a typical curve of a lactation period of acow, the diagram having an X-axis regarding the lactation time(months)-and a Y-axis regarding the recommended number of milkings perday.

Of course, the curves will look differently for other milking animals,such as sheep, goats, buffaloes and horses. For such animals, it will ofcourse be possible to create suitable curves.

FIG. 5b shows a lactation period divided into five stages I, II, III, IVand V. The different stages of the lactation period may be used for awhole herd of a mixture of breeds, a whole herd of the same breed, apart of a herd or for a cow individual.

In case the curve is not representative for a particular breed, aparticular herd, a particular part of a herd or a particular cowindividual, another standard curve may be used, such as the ones showedin FIGS. 5c and 5 d, respectively. It should however be noted that thecurves shown in FIGS. 5a to 5 d are only examples of standard curves.Such standard curves may be supplied by the milking robot supplier for aparticular breed. Alternatively, a typical lactation curve may bemanually set in the control means of the milking robot, for a particularbreed or a particular animal. The curves may be stored in the controlmeans, either as a continuous curve or as a stepped function.

Alternatively or additionally, the number of stages may be manually setfor a herd, a part of the herd or for a particular animal.

Furthermore, the start of the lactation period is entered into thecontrol means, preferably by the dairy maid, when the cow has calved Incase it turns out that a selected standard curve allows the cow to bemilked too often or too seldom, the dairy maid may then either exchangethe standard curve, or manually change the number of milkings per day,or manually change the duration of the stage or stages.

In order to perform the change of stages or numbers of milkingsautomatically, the amount of extracted milk may be used as basistherefor. Accordingly, in case the extracted amount of milk is above apredetermined limit the control means allows the cow individual to bemilked e.g. one time per day. However, in case the extracted amount ofmilk is under a predetermined limit, the control means allows that cowindividual to be milked e.g. one less occasion per day.

Likewise, the exacted amount of milk may be used as a threshold valuefor determination of the end of a stage.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic milking apparatus comprising a milking equipment having at least one teatcup, a robot arm for attaching a teatcup to an animal's teat, an animal identification means for allowing identification of an animal individual, and an animal space provided with an animal accepting/rejecting means associated with a control means, said control means being programmed to allow an animal substantially in the beginning of its lactation period to be milked more often than in a later stage thereof, characterised in that said control means is switchable between at least two stages of the lactation period, a first stage starting at the beginning of the lactation period, a last stage ending towards the end of the lactation period, said lactation period being divided into stages having a variable length of at least one day.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one animal individual is allowed a certain number of milkings per day at at least one stage of the lactation period, and another certain number of milkings per day at at least one other stage of the lactation period.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lactation period is divided into stages having a length of at least one week.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said lactation period is divided into stages having a length of at least one month.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of one stage may be different from the length of another stage.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of said stages is automatically set based on reference values.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of said stages is set manually.
 8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of each stage for the whole lactation period is set before the beginning of the first stage.
 9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of said stage is adaptable during the lactation period.
 10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said the length of said stages is determined by measurement of the amount of extracted milk from an animal during a at least one milking, a threshold value of the amount determining the end of said stage.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of said stages is predetermined for at least a part of a herd.
 12. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the allowed number of milkings per day increases in the beginning of the lactation period towards a maximum point.
 13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the allowed number of milkings per day decreases from said maximum point towards the end of the lactation period.
 14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the said decrease of allowed number of milkings per day is substantially continues.
 15. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the allowed number of milkings per day for an animal individual is not less than 1 milking per day and no more than 6 milkings per day.
 16. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means is programmed to allow said animal to be milked only after a minimum time interval from a previous milking.
 17. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said accepting/rejecting member is a gate allowing or preventing access to said animal space.
 18. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said gate is adapted in a first position to accept access of said animal into said animal space, but to prevent access into a waiting area, and in a second position to accept access of said animal into a waiting area but to prevent access into said animal space.
 19. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein an animal allowed to be milked and is standing at a first distance from said sensor, is given priority to enter said animal space in relation to an animal allowed to be milked and standing at a second distance from said sensor, said second distance being larger than said first distance.
 20. A method according to claim 2, including setting a predetermined length of said stages for at least a part of a herd.
 21. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said lactation period is divided into stages having a length of at least one week; said lactation period is divided into stages having a length of at least one month; the length of one stage may be different from the length of another stage; the length of each stage for the whole lactation period is set before the beginning of the first stage; the length of said stage is adaptable during the lactation period; said the length of said stages is determined by measurement of the amount of extracted milk from an animal during at least one milking, a threshold value of the amount determining the end of said stage; the length of said stages is predetermined for at least a part of a herd; the allowed number of milkings per day increases in the beginning of the lactation period towards a maximum point; the allowed number of milkings per day decreases from said maximum point towards the end of the lactation period; the said decrease of allowed number of milkings per day is substantially continuous; the allowed number of milkings per day for an animal individual is not less than 1 milking per day and no more than 6 milkings per day; said control means is programmed to allow said animal to be milked only after a minimum time interval from a previous milking; said accepting/rejecting member is a gate allowing or prevent access to said animal space; said gate is adapted in a first position to accept access of said animal into said animal space, but to prevent access into a waiting area, and in a second position to accept access of said animal into a waiting area but to prevent access into said animal space; an animal allowed to be milked and is standing at a first distance from said sensor, is given priority to enter said animal space in relation to an animal allowed to be milked and standing at a second distance from said sensor, said second distance being larger than said first distance.
 22. A method of controlling an automatic milking apparatus, which comprises a milking equipment having at least one teatcup, a robot arm for attaching a teatcup to an animal's teat, an animal identification means for allowing identification of an animal individual, and an animal space provided with an animal accepting/rejecting means associated with a control means, said control means allowing an animal substantially in the beginning of its lactation period to be milked more often than in a later stage thereof, characterised by including switching, by means of said control means, between at least two stages of the lactation period, a first stage starting at the beginning of the lactation period, a last stage ending towards the end of the lactation period and dividing said lactation period into stages having a variable length of at least one day.
 23. A method according to claim 22, including allowing at least one animal individual a certain number of milkings per day at at least one stage of the lactation period, and another certain number of milkings per day at at least one other stage of the lactation period.
 24. A method according to claim 22, including dividing said lactation period into stages having a length of at least one week.
 25. A method according to claim 22, including dividing said lactation period into stages having a length of at least one month.
 26. A method according to claim 22, including setting the length of one stage differently from the length of another stage.
 27. A method according to claim 22, including automatically setting the length of said stages is automatically set based on reference values.
 28. A method according to claim 22, including manually setting the length of said stages.
 29. A method according to claim 22, including setting the length of each stage for the whole lactation period before the beginning of the first stage.
 30. A method according to claim 22, including adapting the length of said stage during the lactation period.
 31. A method according to claim 22, including determining the length of said stages by measurement of the amount of extracted milk from an animal during at least one milking, a threshold value of the amount determining the end of said stage.
 32. A method according to claim 22, including increasing the allowed number of milkings per day in the beginning of the lactation period towards a maximum point.
 33. A method according to claim 32, including decreasing the allowed number of-milkings per day from said maximum point towards the end of the lactation period.
 34. A method according to claim 33, including decreasing the allowed number of milkings per day substantially continuously.
 35. A method according to claim 22, including allowing the number of milkings per day for an animal individual to be not less than 1 milking per day and no more than 6 milkings per day.
 36. A method according to claim 22, including allowing said animal to be milked only after a minimum time interval from a previous milking.
 37. A method according to claim 22, including allowing or preventing access to said animal space by means of said accepting/rejecting member, said accepting/rejecting member being a gate.
 38. A method according to claim 37, including accepting access of said animal into said animal space when said gate is in a first position, but to preventing access into a waiting area, and accepting access of said animal into a waiting area when said gate is in a second position, but to prevent access into said animal space.
 39. An apparatus according to claim 37, including giving priority to an animal allowed to enter said milking space and is standing at a first distance from said sensor, in relation to an animal, which is allowed to be milked and is standing at a second distance from said sensor, said second distance being larger than said first distance.
 40. A method according to claim 23, including: dividing said lactation period into stages having a length of at least one month; setting the length of one stage differently from the length of another stage; setting the length of each stage for the whole lactation period before the beginning of the first stage; adapting the length of said stage during the lactation period; determining the length of said stages by measurement of the amount of extracted milk from an animal during at least one milking, a threshold value of the amount determining the end of said stage; setting a predetermined length of said stages for at least a part of a herd; increasing the allowed number of milkings per day in the beginning of the lactation period towards a maximum point; decreasing the allowed number of milkings per day from said maximum point towards the end of the lactation period substantially continuously; allowing the number of milkings per day for an animal individual to be not less than 1 milking per day and no more than 6 milkings per day; allowing said animal to be milked only after a minimum time interval from a previous milking; allowing or preventing access to said animal space by means of said accepting/rejecting member, said accepting/rejecting member being a gate; accepting access of said animal into said animal space when said gate is in a first position, but to preventing access into a waiting area, and accepting access of said animal into a waiting area when said gate is in a second position, but to prevent access into said animal space; and giving priority to an animal allowed to enter said milking space and is standing at a first distance from said sensor, in relation to an animal, which is allowed to be milked and is standing at a second distance from said sensor, said second distance being larger than said first distance. 